Bancroft’s “Book of the Fair”

High school history teacher Michael Skomba writes in “Go West! Then Back to the Future” (Smithsonian Magazine blog January 14, 2022) about his exploration of one of the most popular and enduring historical narratives of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The Book of the Fair by Hubert Howe Bancroft, published in numerous editions, was “algorithmically perfected to maximize the market for an expensive work,” according to Bancroft scholar Dr. Travis Ross of Yale University. Skomba finds Bancroft’s history of the [...]

By |2022-01-15T08:20:32-06:00January 15th, 2022|Categories: NEWS|Tags: |0 Comments

“Hamilton: The Exhibition” Coming to Chicago

125 years after the World’s Columbian Exhibition closed in Chicago, Hamilton: The Exhibition, will open in this city. Broadway World reports that the interactive exhibit, which uses the smash musical Hamilton to tell the story of the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America, will open in Chicago on November 17, 2018. What comes next is a tour of other U.S. cities. The Chicago Tribune reports that the producer of the Broadway show, Jeffrey Seller, [...]

April 16, 2018: World’s Fair Auction in Cleveland

A large collection of 1893 World’s Fair antiques and collectibles will be going under the hammer on Monday, April 16. Gray’s Auctioneers “World's Fair Memorabilia and Collectibles” live auction in Cleveland, Ohio, starts at 11 AM (EDT) and features more than thirty Columbian Exposition items. Lots 20 through 51 include … • numerous pieces of decorative glassware, pottery and porcelain, including set of beautiful Libby glass peachblow rose bowls and a pair of ornate vases featuring images of the [...]

Out Like a Lamb

March came in like a lion, so it should go out like a lamb, right? "Mary & Her Lamb" [Image from the Keystone-Mast Collection, UC Riverside, California Museum of Photography.] Choosing a lion from among the many prominent felines present at the 1893 World’s fair was quite easy for our post back on March 1. Finding a lamb for this accompanying end-of-the-month post has been a much more challenging hunt! We present here a photograph of the sculpture [...]

March 8, 2018: Union League Club of Chicago lecture on “The Columbian Exposition”

The Union League Club of Chicago (ULCC) is celebrating the 125th anniversary of the 1893 World's Fair with a presentation by Greg Cook titled "The World's Columbian Exposition and its Transformation of Chicago Architecture" on Thursday, March 8 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Union League Club (65 Jackson Boulevard in Chicago). The Union League Club of Chicago. [Image from https://www.facebook.com/ULCChicago/] A cocktail reception with a cash bar and light appetizers will start at 5:30 pm and feature a display of the Union [...]

By |2024-10-27T12:18:20-05:00February 17th, 2018|Categories: EVENTS (past)|Tags: , , , |0 Comments
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